JPS5925604B2 - Fiber bundle manufacturing equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an apparatus for producing fiber bundles, particularly hollow fiber bundles having selective substance permeability.

In recent years, hollow fibers have been used as selectively permeable membranes in hemodialysis devices, substance separation devices using ultrafiltration, reverse osmosis, etc., gas separation devices, and the like.

In order to maintain its permselectivity, the hollow fibers must be manufactured in a manner that does not cause pinholes, contamination, or other negative effects on the membrane.

For this purpose, after spinning, the yarn is wound into a frame, and in this state it is subjected to various treatments that vary depending on the type of hollow fiber material and manufacturing method, such as water washing, scouring, hydrolysis, plasticization, moist heat treatment, and drying. In some cases, both ends are fixed with an adhesive or the like, and the bundle is cut into a predetermined bundle shape so that it can be loaded into a case of a hemodialysis machine or the like.

However, since a series of processes after winding are carried out on each individual frame, productivity is very low and it is unsuitable for mass production.

Other known processing devices have similar drawbacks, and the reality is that no device has yet been proposed that can be operated effectively and efficiently.

In view of these circumstances, it is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus that can efficiently separate fibers into bundles after a series of treatments after winding them up.

Hereinafter, an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a hollow fiber bundle will be described with reference to the drawings.

According to this example, first, according to a conventional method, a spinning stock solution in which cellulose acetate is dissolved in an organic solvent is discharged from an annular slit, and at the same time, d-limonene is discharged as a core liquid from the nozzle opening inside the annular slit. After passing through the gas phase, it is introduced into a coagulation bath mainly composed of water.

Next, as shown in FIG. 1, the coagulated hollow fibers 1 are continuously guided from the coagulation bath to a winding device 2.

In this winding device, winding is performed when the chain 3 is driven so that the winding frame 4 fixed on the endless chain 3 faces upward.

The hollow fiber 1 is guided back and forth around the winding frames 4a and 4b by a guide 6 that reciprocates around the guide frame 5 by a traverse mechanism.

The traverse mechanism has a basic configuration of a chain 7 and sprockets 8 and 9, and the chain 7 is rotated in the direction of the arrow by a variable speed motor (both not shown) via a transmission, whereby The support body 11 is reciprocated.

In this case, since the guide 6 moves back and forth in the direction perpendicular to the traverse direction at both end positions to wind the winding frame 4, abutment pieces 13, 13 are provided which come into contact with the switch 12.

In order to move the guide 6 back and forth by this contact, a plunger solenoid that operates in conjunction with the switch 12 is provided in the support 11.

After the fiber 1 is wound up between the winding frames 4 a and 4 b in this way, the fiber 1 is sent to the winding device 2 in the subsequent water washing tower 1 in the momme state.
8, the fibers are sequentially sent to a hydrolysis tank 19, a water washing tower 20, a plasticization tank 21, a drying oven 22, and a fiber bundle cutting/separation device 23 for fiber bundle production, where they are subjected to various treatments.

Note that 17 is a tin rocket or gear that drives the chain 3.

The fiber 1 wound around the winding frame 4 is heated at 60°C in the water washing tower 18.
After being washed for 0 minutes, it may be treated with 1% NaOH at 50° C. for 2 minutes in a hydrolysis tank 19 to be regenerated into cellulose.

Further, it may be washed in the water washing tower 20 at 60°C for 40 minutes, treated in the plasticizing tank 21 with 5% glycerin at 50°C for 20 minutes, and further dried in the drying oven 22 at 80°C for 40 minutes.

Finally, the fibers are separated intermittently (continuously in some cases) into individual hollow fiber bundles by a separating device 23, which will be described later.

This series of continuous processing greatly improves workability and productivity.

Moreover, since the fibers are held in a predetermined member rather than in a separate state during each treatment, troubles such as tangles do not occur.

In order to make this continuous process a truly effective process, a unique configuration shown in Figures 3 and 4 is used as the device 23 that continuously separates the fibers from the winding frame and forms fiber bundles. It is to be done.

That is, this separation device is disposed close to the terminal end of the chain 3, and has a belt conveyor 30 that is driven in a direction away from the pair of winding frames 4, and has a belt conveyor 30 that is driven in a direction away from the pair of winding frames 4. Moving arms 31 and 32 for heat fusion are provided.

Further, a heat sealing tape 34 supplied from a supply reel 33 is placed on the belt conveyor 30 and guided in the same direction by the conveyor 30.

On the other hand, at the tip of the upper arm 31, a supply reel 35 and a heat-sealing tape 36 are applied, which are guided above the fiber 1 and below the arm 31, and are also guided in the same direction as the conveyor 30. .

Heaters 37.3B are built into the tips of the arms 31 and 320, respectively, and when the arm 3L32 is moved from the position shown by the imaginary line to the position shown by the solid line, the arm 3L32 is moved to the fiber 1 side by a lowering or raising mechanism (not shown). They are moved until they come into contact, and the contact portions are sealed by heat from heaters 37 and 38.

To explain this in detail, if the hollow fiber 1 to be separated from the winding frame 4 moves to a horizontal position in front of the arms 31 and 32 when the arms 31 and 32 are in the imaginary line position, In synchronization, the arms 31 and 32 are horizontally moved to the solid line position, that is, a posture position in which a predetermined portion of the hollow fiber 10, especially both ends and the middle portion, are sandwiched from above and below, and at the same time, the arm 31 is lowered, the arm 32 is raised, and both Bring the arm into contact with the fiber 1 side.

Such horizontal movement of the arms 31, 320 is performed by an air cylinder mechanism 37, and vertical movement is performed by a rotary lever mechanism, cam mechanism, etc., which move the arms 31, 32 intermittently, although not shown.

As the arms 31 and 320 move vertically, the tape 34 and 36, the belt conveyor 30, and both ends and middle portions of the wound hollow fiber 1 are overlapped and sandwiched between these two arms.

At this time, due to the action of heat from the heaters 37 and 38, the low melting point adhesive 40 applied to the sealing position of the tapes 34 and 36 melts and penetrates into a predetermined portion of the hollow fiber 10 from above and below, and Heat seal the sections.

As a result, as shown in Fig. 5, the upper and lower tapes 36.3
4, a hollow fiber bundle 41 whose both ends (furthermore, the middle portion) are sealed (fixed) is formed.

Although FIG. 4 shows the planar state with the upper arm 31 removed, as can be understood from FIG. 3, the upper and lower arms overlap each other in the heat-sealed position.

The tapes 34 and 36 are basically made of mesh cloth or nylon tape, and have a low melting point adhesive 4 on the side edges, as shown in the figure.
0 is applied in the form of a band, and the arms 31 and 32 are brought into contact with this band-shaped fusing agent portion indirectly via the base materials 34 and 36.

Therefore, only the inner welding agent 40 is selectively melted by the heaters 38 and 39 of the arms 31 and 32 and enters the gap between the hollow fibers 1, thereby achieving a strong heat seal.

Immediately after heat sealing is performed in this manner, as shown in FIG. Cut the outer hollow fibers horizontally.

Since this cutting is performed on each of the pair of winding frames 4, as the belt conveyor 30 subsequently moves, the sealed hollow fiber bundle 41 is easily removed from the winding frame 4 and remains in the winding frame 4.
It is fed out to the right on the belt conveyor 30 together with the tapes 34 and 36.

At this time, the arms 31 and 32 are vertically moved to the solid line position and further retreated to the imaginary line position.

This retracted position does not prevent the next reel from being set in the same horizontal position as above.

By sequentially repeating the same heat sealing and cutting operations as described above for each winding frame, it is possible to form a row of intermittent seal type hollow fiber bundles 41 as shown in FIG.
This can be sent to the take-up reel 43 by the conveyor 30.

In addition, in FIG. 4, the tapes 34 and 36 are placed at three locations between the winding frames 4, that is, not only at both ends of the hollow fibers 10 but also at intermediate positions, so the resulting hollow fiber bundles are placed at two locations for each winding frame. One by one.

In addition, in FIG. 3, the arm 31 after heat sealing and cutting
If the arm 32 is moved to the imaginary line position in the same posture, the hollow fiber bundle can be forcibly pulled out while grasping the seal portion between the arms 31 and 32.

In this way, the hollow fiber bundle can be reliably separated from the winding frame, and in some cases, the rotary blade 42 may be used as described above.
It is also possible to directly remove the hollow fiber bundle from the winding frame by the gripping force of the arm 3L32.

As mentioned above, by using the apparatus of this example, various treatments can be performed while the hollow fibers are wound on the winding frame, and in particular, the separation of the hollow fiber bundles from the winding frame can be done by cleverly utilizing the moving sealing tape. This can be done efficiently using a so-called taping method.

The created row of hollow fiber bundles can be wound directly onto a reel as shown.

On the other hand, if a small reel is arranged on the movement path of the row and the conveyor 30 stops moving when a predetermined amount of winding is wound on this small reel and the end of the winding of the small reel is cut, the winding can be carried out on this small reel. By matching the shape of the hollow fiber bundle taken, for example, to the case shape of the hemodialyzer, it can be loaded into the case as is, and assembly can be carried out smoothly.

In any case, if the hollow fiber has a mesh-like base 34°36 inside the sealing part, the base part will act as a spacer when loaded into the case, and the perfusion of dialysate will be prevented. can be sufficiently generated.

It is also possible to sequentially stack the hollow fiber bundle rows while dropping them downward, as shown by the chain lines in the figure, without winding them onto a reel.

FIG. 6 shows another separation device 23. In FIG.

In this example, instead of the pair of arms described above, a single arm 31 is disposed only at the top, and only a heater 38 is disposed below the belt conveyor 30.

Therefore, if the upper arm 31 is moved from the imaginary line position to the solid line position and the upper and lower heaters 37.3B are vertically moved so as to approach each other, the ends of the hollow fibers 1 and The sections can be heat-sealed and removed from the bobbin 4 by cutting and sent out with the tapes 34 and 36.

In this case, if sealing is performed without interruption, a bundle of hollow fibers 1 continuously sealed between the tapes 34 and 36 can be formed as shown in the figure.

For sealing, it is preferable to provide a tape receiver plate 45 on the side of the conveyor 30, as shown in FIG. 7, and to move the lower heater 38 up and down through an opening 46 formed in the plate.

FIG. 8 shows yet another separation device.

In this case, the cutter blade 47 is replaced with the arm 31 in FIG.
Use the arm 31 with (・ro.

This arm 31 is mounted on the guide plate 4 on the inclined support plate 47.
8 and is configured to be guided diagonally.

The arm 31 is connected via a connecting rod 49 to a moving shaft of an air cylinder 50 fixed on a support plate 47.

During operation, the arm 31 is moved by the air cylinder 50.
is lowered obliquely to the imaginary line position, and the hollow fiber is heat-sealed between the upper and lower tapes 36 and 34 using the same method as described above.

When the arm 31 is further lowered, the cutter blade 47 at the lower end cuts the hollow fibers outside the sealed portion all at once, allowing them to be separated from the winding frame.

Although not shown, there is a cutter blade 47 below the tape 34.
There is a turret for holding the knife.

In this example, sealing and cutting of the hollow fibers can be performed continuously using only one arm 31, resulting in very good workability.

Furthermore, a secondary air cylinder that lowers the cutter blade 47 to the cutting position may be connected to the arm 31 immediately after the sealing described above.

Although the present invention has been illustrated above, the above-mentioned example can be further modified based on the technical idea of the present invention.

For example, the winding frame may have a structure other than the above-mentioned two-point winding type, and its moving means may not be a chain type.

Further, in the above example, sealing was performed between the upper and lower two tapes, but instead of heat sealing, simple adhesion may be used, or other fixing methods such as clamping with clips or the like may also be adopted.

Even if only one piece of tape is placed above or below the hollow fibers, sufficient fixation is possible.

In short, as long as the tape is used to support the hollow fibers separated from the winding frame, the number and arrangement of the tapes does not matter.

In addition to the air cylinder, the heat sealing arm can be moved using
This may be done by a plunger solenoid or other mechanical means, but the important thing is that it is linked to the movement of the bobbin.

Note that the present invention is of course applicable not only to hollow fibers but also to other fibrous bodies, and has a wide range of uses.

As described above, the present invention processes the fibrous body in a wound state continuously or stepwise, and after this treatment, the fibrous body is moved to a predetermined position of the fibrous body with respect to a supporting member that moves while approaching the fibrous body. The structure is such that the fiber body is separated from the winding frame after the fixation is done, so that the process after winding can be performed with good work efficiency, and the work of creating fiber bundles can be made more efficient. This can be carried out without interruption, providing an extremely useful device in terms of mass production.

Particularly in the case of hollow fiber bundles, efficient bundle creation can significantly simplify the subsequent assembly process.

Alternatively, it is also possible to introduce the already produced long hollow fibers into a winding device, wind them up onto a frame, immediately separate them from the winding frame with a separation device, and then tape them.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings show an embodiment of the present invention, in which Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the main parts of an apparatus for winding hollow fibers onto a reel, and Fig. 2 is a schematic cross-section showing a series of processing steps after winding. Figure 3 is a schematic side view of the apparatus for creating a hollow fiber bundle, Figure 4 is a plan view of the device with components arranged above in Figure 3 removed, and Figure 5 is the hollow fiber produced. FIG. 6 is a side view of the main part of a hollow fiber bundle producing device according to another example, FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of a heat-sealed part, and FIG. FIG. 2 is a side view of the main parts of the fiber bundle creation device. In addition, in the symbols used in the drawings, 1...
...Hollow fiber, 4... Winding frame, 23...
Yarn bundle cutting and separation device, 30...belt conveyor,
31, 32... Arm, 34.36...
・Seal tape, 37゜50... Air cylinder, 38, 39... Scratcher, 40... Adhesive, 41... Hollow fiber bundle, 42・・・・・・It is a rotating blade.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A winding frame for winding a fibrous body, a moving means for moving this winding frame in a predetermined direction, and a moving means arranged close to this moving means and for winding the fiber body from the winding frame. separating means for separating the fibrous bodies, the separating means (a) moving in a direction away from the winding frame while being close to the fibrous body, and also separating the separated fibers from the winding frame; A moving support member that supports the body. (b) A fixing member for fixing a predetermined portion of the fibrous body in the wound state to the movable support member. (c) A member for separating the fiber body from the winding frame as a fiber bundle after this fixation. A fiber bundle manufacturing device comprising: